Law struggled with historic abuse cases
The law has struggled to deal with prosecuting cases of historic child sexual abuse and the royal commission will attempt to provide a national model for dealing with the issue, the inquiry was told in Perth this morning.
Starting the second week of a public hearing into the experiences of former residents at four WA Christian Brothers homes, WA deputy director of public prosecutions Bruno Fiannaca acknowledged the law had "certainly struggled" in the early 1990s when allegations began to emerge of institutional abuse up to 40 years old.
But Mr Fiannaca told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that there had since been changes to the law on evidence and procedure which had made it easier to prosecute cases of historic sex abuse and more likely to secure convictions.
Royal commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan told the hearing that the legal issues being discussed had divided judges and the High Court, which had struggled to provide a clear answer on the problems.
"The royal commission will have to take on that struggle head on," Justice McClellan said.
"We will try resolve the situation and provide a model for the whole of Australia, but whether we are successful is another matter."
Mr Fiannaca has been called to the commission to explain previous decisions not to prosecute allegations when they emerged and were investigated in the early 1990s.
The senior prosecutor outlined historic evidentiary hurdles which had prevented allegations by more than one victim against the same accused being heard in one trial and limited the prospects of securing convictions.
He also explained changes to legislation on similar fact evidence which had made it easier to argue evidence could be admitted in these type of cases.
The start of this morning's hearing was briefly disrupted after a person in the public gallery shouted claims of a cover-up and the need for Government to be held to account.
Last week, 11 former residents of the Christian Brothers' Clontarf, Castledare, Tardun and Bindoon orphanages gave evidence of systemic sexual, physical and mental abuse at the homes between 1947 and 1968.
The hearing continues. Click on the image below for our Full Coverage of the commission hearings.
